Extremely high temperatures are required to enable the melting, processing and forming of glass. In typical glass forming operations this high temperature requirement extends to the initial melting of the glass in a furnace, the periodic re-heating of the glass in a glory hole, the heating of the glass while applying colored additives in a color box, the pre-heating of a glass manipulating pipe in a pipe warmer, and the annealing of formed glass in an annealer. Generally, glass working equipment uses natural gas or propane fueled flames as heat sources to melt, process and form the glass. However, there are some situations or venues where a gas source is not readily available, or where the use of a gas source is excluded for safety reasons. For instance, one such situation or venue where a gas source is prohibited for safety reasons is on a cruise ship where it would be desirable to be able to perform hot glass forming shows for people vacationing on the cruise ship.
In these situations or venues, electrically heated glass working equipment are alternatives to the glass working equipment that use a gas source. The electrically heated glass working equipment utilize electrically resistive heating elements such as, for example, molybdenum disilicide to generate radiative heat. Unfortunately, electricity is typically a poor means of supplying bulk energy to glass working equipment. For instance, a typical glass furnace of about 150 lbs capacity would have to be supplied with a 400,000 BTU burner, which is the equivalent of approximately 115 KW of electrical power. However, 115 KW power supplies are generally much too expensive and bulky to be considered as a useful source of energy for such a small glass furnace. In contrast, power supplies of <35 KW are economically feasible and can be a useful source of energy for a glass furnace if a more efficient insulation package is provided and the glass is allowed a longer period of time to melt and fine out. There are several types of electrically heated glass furnaces currently available today on the market, which use low energy inputs, but they have their own problems and they often introduce design features that limit their usefulness. These problems and other problems associated with other types of glass working equipment are discussed below.
Furnace                Existing door systems have tracks and wheels which fail to create a tight seal and are prone to energy leakage. Furthermore, existing rear hinge designs eliminate easy access to heating elements in the top of the furnace        The heating elements are mounted in the top (crown) of the furnace, which means that the heating elements and corresponding electrical supplies must be removed to be able to access and service the crucible.        
Glory Hole (GH)                Existing door systems are difficult to maintain and have undesirable energy leakage.        There are few electric glory hole's commercially available. Perhaps one reason for this is that heating elements are located in a position that creates a potential for contact with glass which if this occurred it would render the heating elements useless. Another possible reason is that electric heat elements provide mostly radiant heat with very little convection energy like gas fired glory holes and as a result there would be undesirable hot spots in the walls next to the heating element holders.        
Combination Pipe Warmer and Color Box                There are no electrically heated pipe warmers commercially available.        
Annealer                Existing annealer door seals fail due to their exposure to heat and abrasion during the loading and unloading of the annealer.        
Annealer's Crucible Kiln                Existing door is too large and when it is opened to much heat escapes.        
Thus, any enhancement of the traditional glass working equipment and in particular the electrical glass working equipment would help improve the melting, processing and forming of glass.